Jerome was the son of one Eusebius, and was born at Sdrigni in Dalmatia, in the reign of the Emperor Constantius. He was baptized at Rome when a young boy, and studied there, under the instruction of Donatus and other very learned personages. He travelled in Gaul for the sake of improving his mind, and there sought the friendship of divers godly men learned in the Scriptures, and made with his own hand many copies of the holy books. He afterwards betook himself to Greece, where he attained eminence as a philosopher and orator, in the following of the most famous theologians. At Constantinople, in especial, he sat at the feet of Gregory of Nazianzus, from whom he professeth himself to have learnt his theology. Then, for godliness' sake, he went to see the home of the Lord Christ, and so throughout all Palestine. He witnesseth that this pilgrimage, where he got the help of the most learned of the Jews for the understanding of the Holy Scriptures, did him much good.

R. The Lord multiplied the fruit of his labours and defended him from his enemies, and kept him safe from those that lay in wait. * And gave him perpetual glory.V.The Lord guided the righteous in right paths, and shewed him the kingdom of God.R. And gave him perpetual glory.

V.Jube domne, (Dómine) benedícere.

V.Vouchsafe, Reverend Father (O Lord), thy blessing.

Benedíctio 5: Christus perpétuæ det nobis gáudia vitæ.R. Amen.

Benediction 5: May Christ bestow upon us the joys of life eternal.R. Amen.

He withdrew himself into the wild deserts of Syria, where he passed four years in studying the Holy Scriptures and in considering the blessedness of heaven, afflicting his body by alway denying himself, by bitter tears, and by chastisement of the flesh. He was ordained Priest by Paulinus, Patriarch of Antioch. He went to Rome on account of the quarrelling of certain Bishops with Paulinus and Epiphanius, and there helped Pope Damasus in the writing of his letters upon Church affairs. But the longing for his old solitude came upon him, and he went back to Palestine, where, in the monastery at Bethlehem, built beside the cradle of the Lord Christ by the Lady Paula of Rome, he set himself to enter on earth upon the life of heaven, serving God in reading and writing without ceasing, regardless of the sufferings of a body tormented by divers diseases and pains.

R. The Lord loved him and adorned him; he clothed him with a robe of glory : *And crowned him at the gates of Paradise.V.The Lord hath put on him the breast-plate of faith, and hath adorned him.R.And crowned him at the gates of Paradise.

Hard questions upon the interpretation of the Holy Scripture were sent to him from all parts of the earth, as to an oracle. He was oftentimes consulted by Pope Damasus and by the holy Augustine upon the meaning of the most obscure passages of the Scripture, because of his extraordinary learning, and that he knew not the Latin and Greek tongues only, but also the Hebrew and Chaldee, and, as the same Augustine testifieth, had read nearly all writers. He attacked heretics with keen publications, and ever undertook the defence of the godly and Catholic. He translated the Old Testament from Hebrew into Latin, and, at the command of Damasus, reformed, according to the original Greek, the existing version of the New. Upon great part of the Scriptures he wrote commentaries. He translated likewise into Latin the works of many learned men, and himself contributed to the Christian life many monuments of his own wit. He lived to an extreme old age, and passed away to heaven, famous for learning and holiness, in the reign of the Emperor Honorius. His body was buried at Bethlehem, but hath since been brought to Rome, where it lieth in the Church of St. Mary-at-the-Manger.

V.Tu autem, Dómine, miserére nobis.R. Deo grátias.

V.But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us.R. Thanks be to God.

St. Jerome passed away to heaven upon the30th day of September in the year of our Lord 420

R. This is he which did according to all that God commanded him ; and God said unto him : Enter thou into my rest : *For thee have I seen righteous before me among all people.V.This is he which despised his life in this world, and is come unto an everlasting kingdom.R.For thee have I seen righteous before me among all people.V.Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.R.For thee have I seen righteous before me among all people.